Swept away

Published 7:00 pm, Friday, March 12, 2004

Both the Estey Road and Bayview Drive crossings over the creek gave way when ice, debris and massive amounts of water flowed through the culverts. Residents along Bayview Drive or Lake Drive now have a 15- to 18-mile drive if they want to get across Denton Creek.

Mary Robbins gets her mail near a bridge on Estey Road in Albright Shores that was swept away by flooding last Sunday. Traffic over the bridge, which includes area school buses, will be rerouted until the County Road Commission is able to repair the damage.

Denton Creek made a pretty good dent in some Gladwin County roads last Friday. As with most dents, repairs cant happen overnight.

Both the Estey Road and Bayview Drive crossings over the creek gave way when ice, debris and massive amounts of water flowed through the culverts. Two other culverts  one on Wieman Road  also gave way.

Residents along Bayview Drive or Lake Drive  depending on what side of the route they live  now have a 15- to 18-mile drive if they want to get across Denton Creek. Before, it took most people less than five minutes.

"Friday, we came across it at about 5:30 p.m., and we were laughing, Isnt this cool?" said resident Joy Haske. "The water was gushing just like a waterfall  ice jams, everything. So we just laughed about it. Well, then about 7 p.m. or a little after 7, somebody called and said, The tubes out."

"Every single spring, chunks of it end up going, and people have been saying for years that at least the tube coming into here was going to go," added Ted Haske, Joys son. "But we never expected the one on Estey Road to go. That was a real surprise."

Joy and Ted Haske called the Bayview culvert "the tube." It and another metal tube were the only structures spanning the creek as of Thursday. A single wooden utility pole and unbroken utility lines spanned the Estey Road crossing. Both are barricaded.

"Right now we have four major structures that need to be replaced," said Dan Provost, engineer and manager for the Gladwin County Road Commission. "Fifteen different miles were closed to traffic at one time. Now theres five miles closed."

Gladwin County Road Commission employees work on clearing debris from Denton Creek off Estey Road in Albright Shores where a "tube" was washed away in last weekend's flooding.

Even with roads closed, the detour routes arent in the greatest shape, Provost said.

"We only have one other road to go down, and thats Happy. And that right now has big gouges and mud puddles," Ted Haske said.

Another concern in Billings Township has to do with the volunteer fire department. The fire station with the equipment and trucks is on the west side of the Estey Road crossing, while the most of the townships volunteer firefighters are on the east side of the bridge.

"We dont have the manpower here, and we dont have the equipment there," said Billings Township Supervisor Boyd Wallace. The trucks cant be stored outside because freezing temperatures could damage them, he said.

Resident Richard Ritter is alleviating some of the logistical problems. Ritter, who lives closer to the firefighters, is allowing the fire department to store a small rescue vehicle is his pole barn. Wallace said this will allow firefighters on the east side of the bridges to make rescue runs, but for now the department is relying on help from Mount Forest and Hope townships for fires. Wallace also said he was very grateful for Ritters offer.

But the weather isnt affecting only the fire trucks. It also has Provost a little worried. The threat of wintry conditions and the possibility of thaw during the next few days could slow repairs.

"We currently have pipe ordered, which will arrive on Monday," Provost said. On Thursday and Friday road commission workers were driving in sheet piling to divert waters from where repairs need to be made.

Provost estimates the cost of repairs to be between $150,000 to $200,000, and repairs could be completed as soon as a week after the new culverts or pipe arrive.